The Reserve Bank of India, established on April 01, 1935 has just entered  its 75th year. The fundamental objective of establishing the RBI was the unification of the authority to discharge functions which hitherto were undertaken by the Government's Currency Department and the Imperial Bank of India, thereby enabling pooling of the country's monetary reserves and their deployment in accordance with the needs of the economy.

RBI was primarily constituted to regulate the issue of banknotes, maintain reserves with a view to securing monetary stability and to operate the credit and currency system of the country to its advantage.

Today, on a very broad basis, the Bank's major focus areas are :


•           Monetary Stability which involves conduct of monetary policy that promotes the achievement of sustainable long-term growth;

•           Financial Stability which involves Regulation and Supervision to promote a safe, soynd, competitive and accessible banking & financial system ensuring inter alia adequate flow of credit to various sectors of the economy;

•           The integrity, efficiency Management as a retail component of the payments system;

•           Provision of Services such as banking and debt management to the Government ;

•           Developmental role from institution building to developing and deepening markets and creating an enabling environment ; and

•           To advise the Government on economic issues and provide primary data related to Banking and Finance and Balance of Payments (BoP) Statistics amongst others;


Geographically, in terms of expansion of the central bank's reach over the years, the RBI has adopted an incremental approach which has seen the opening of its offices as and when a need has been felt. New offices cater to specific interests of such areas, as the newly-created states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand. The main focus of its decentralization has been to maximize the engagement of RBI in the local development processes as also to ensure that the financial concerns of all sections of the population of these areas, specially the vulnerable and marginalized groups, are adequately addressed.

This multifaceted content requires vastly different competencies in terms of infrastructure and human resources. To support this work content, today the Bank has about 21,000 employees in various categories and a quasi-federal organizational structure with a Central Office located in Mumbai having 26 Departments along with 29 offices spread over the entire country mainly in State capitals. The various structures housing the offices of the RBI, from its first headquarters at Council House Street, Kolkata, to its current headquarters at Mumbai, reflect how the RBI has kept in step with progress over the years, while the Yaksha & Yakshini standing guard at the entrance to its Delhi office amalgamate India's rich mythological past.


The Department of Posts is happy to honour the Reserve Bank of India with a commemorative postage stamp.


Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India